All Austrians will have to wear face masks while shopping, the government announced on Monday, in its latest measures to battle the novel coronavirus. Once supermarket retail chains have received the masks, every shopper will be handed the protective gear when entering stores.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's government on Sunday prepared Italians for a "very long" lockdown, despite its economic hardship and traumatic impact on daily lives, news wires reported. The message from ministers and health officials came as Italy's world-topping death toll rose by 756, below Friday's record of 969, and the rate of coronavirus infections slowed to under 6% for the first time.

All foreigners in Portugal with pending applications will be treated as permanent residents from Monday until at least 1 July, authorities said on Saturday, to ensure migrants have access to public services during the coronavirus outbreak.

French health authorities reported 319 new deaths from the coronavirus on Saturday, up 16% on the previous day and taking the total to 2,314, as the government scrambled to increase the number of intensive care beds nationwide.

Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez on Saturday evening announced stricter lockdown measures that will force all non-essential workers to stay at home for the next two weeks, as the Covid-19-related death toll continues to climb, news wires reported. The latest moves to combat the outberak in Spain, the second-worst affected country in Europe after Italy, will be approved at a cabinet meeting on Sunday and will last from 30 March until 9 April.

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Italy went over 10,000 on Saturday, news wires reported. Officials said 889 more people died in the previous 24 hours, the second highest daily tally since the epidemic emerged on 21 February, and that total fatalities reached 10,023. Confirmed cases rose by about 6,000 to 92,472, the second-highest number of cases in the world behind the US.

Ireland hopes to be in a position in two weeks to tweak or remove some of the highly restrictive measures introduced on Friday if it can slow down the rate of admission to intensive care units, Health Minister Simon Harris said.

Germany will not ease measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus before at least April 20, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff told a German newspaper.

French President Emmanuel Macron sought on Saturday to win over Italians, saying in an interview with Italy’s leading newspapers that France was there to help and Italians should be wary of talk about aid from China or Russia to fight the coronavirus. Macron also called for stronger budget solidarity in Europe.

Police and army on Friday midnight set up roadblocks on all routes that connect Helsinki with the rest of the country as Finland’s parliament approved the plan to enforce the capital region’s blockade, news wires reported. The government agreed such a measure on Wednesday, news wires reported.